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I get Auburn but until Florida proves to me early in the season they are a different team, then I will expect that as a win all day.

Florida's defense for the most part kicked our asses on our own field last year. A couple of great individual plays were the reason USC won that football game but for the most part it was Florida's defense dominating all night. It is a game that is also in their house where we got absolutely throttled last time we played there.

1) @ Auburn (haven't won there yet, and haven't beaten AU in centuries
2) @ UF (won in the Swamp once, they will have a tough defense)
3) @ Clemson (they are improving on defense, and one has to figure they are due)
4) UGA (tough early gm with their rushing talent vs our young/new DL. USC home crowd will be a factor for their new QB and OL)
5) Texas A&M (regardless of QB situation, Sumlin will have their offense humming. Hopefully their defense is still coughing. Early-season tester)
6) Mizzouri (will be at home, and they are missing many stars from last season)
7) ECU (will be at home, but offense is prolific and last season was best under McNeil)
8) Tennessee (new interior lines and at W-B; this game is circled)
9) @ Vanderbilt (still has some talent, but taken a lot of hits to program recently. At their stadium will make it tougher)
10) @ Kentucky (a total mess last season, still putting the pieces together)
11) South Alabama (a fun game for stat-lovers)
12) Furman (a fun game for stat-lovers)

This. Auburn and Florida are both the hardest. It doesn't matter which one is harder. We won't be favored in either and it's on the road. Reminds me of LSU and Florida in 2012.. except they're not in consecutive weeks which could be huge if we lose to Auburn.

We'll be favored in every other game and will win them all. I think UT might be harder than Clemson.

1) @ Auburn (haven't won there yet, and haven't beaten AU in centuries
2) @ UF (won in the Swamp once, they will have a tough defense)
3) @ Clemson (they are improving on defense, and one has to figure they are due)
4) UGA (tough early gm with their rushing talent vs our young/new DL. USC home crowd will be a factor for their new QB and OL)
5) Texas A&M (regardless of QB situation, Sumlin will have their offense humming. Hopefully their defense is still coughing. Early-season tester)
6) Mizzouri (will be at home, and they are missing many stars from last season)
7) ECU (will be at home, but offense is prolific and last season was best under McNeil)
8) Tennessee (new interior lines and at W-B; this game is circled)
9) @ Vanderbilt (still has some talent, but taken a lot of hits to program recently. At their stadium will make it tougher)
10) @ Kentucky (a total mess last season, still putting the pieces together)
11) South Alabama (a fun game for stat-lovers)
12) Furman (a fun game for stat-lovers)

TOUGHESTDIFFICULTBATTLES BUT WINS
RUN-AWAY WINS

No real disagreement with your analysis, but man did you pick some UGLY colors to make your point(s)...

Question: How likely is it that our coaching staff already has a preliminary game plan established for each of our games? It would seem to me that this is a perfect time to be laying out the year. We need a winning game plan for Auburn.

History says Auburn/Florida will have sucess against us as we will be on the road. A loss against Auburn is manageable. Florida is a must-win since we can't be viewed as inferior in the SEC-E to the panel - remember next year is a playoff year. The panel will expect us to lose to Auburn and we likely will but as long as we can get to ATL with 1 loss we are in the driver seat for playoff.

That said, Auburn is off my list. My top 5.

1. Forida - MUST win. Lose and Outback/Cap 1 bowl...again.

2. aTm - Gamecocks rarely shine in opener and this isn't Vandy or ECU to rely on a 2nd half comeback. Need to come out strong aka last year against UNC.

3. ECU - sneaky let down game. With the schedule situation as is, it's impossible not to be looking forward. Gamecocks win but this should NOT be taken lightly against a very improved Pirate squad.

4. Clemson - on the road against a very motivated Dabo. Defense is there for them. Despite the last 6, the Gamecocks will need to be VERY sharp.

5. UGA - at home. UGA w/o Murray will be a ? but the rivalry is what it is. The pups always have talent.

Florida's defense for the most part kicked our asses on our own field last year. A couple of great individual plays were the reason USC won that football game but for the most part it was Florida's defense dominating all night. It is a game that is also in their house where we got absolutely throttled last time we played there.

Florida's defense didn't really dominate us last year. It was more the fact we had a hard time stopping their running game than anything. We put up 377 yards on them, and we averaged 450 +/-. But I agree they were a much tougher game than most are willing to admit, which shouldn't have been the case considering the state of both teams at the time.